Straight From the Dragon's Mouth

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We chat with the folks behind Surreal Software's upcoming Drakan: Order of the Flame.

By IGN Staff

IGNPC: As far as we know, this is the first game from Surreal Software. But certainly members of your team have been around the industry and at other projects. Can you brief us on the senior team members, your past credits and the like?

Stuart Denman - VP and Director of Technology. Stu has been the architect for our tools and engines. This is his first commercial product.

Mike Nichols - Art Director - Mike has been in the industry for around eight years. His most recent project was Spider from Boss.

Mel Guymon - Lead Animator - Mel has been making commercial games for four years. His most recent project was Zombie's Spec Ops.

IGNPC: A lot of people might look at this game and think "Tomb Raider with a Dragon". What is your response?

Alan Patmore: The only similarity between Drakan and Tomb Raider is that both games feature a lead female character. Even though both are third person games our camera is fixed instead of free floating. We did this because Drakan focuses heavily on fast action combat.

Drakan is set in an epic fantasy world that has a history and realistic locales. This is what really separates Drakan from other games. Drakan feels less like a game and more like a living, breathing world. We accomplished this by integrating all aspects of gameplay into the environment. Our traps and puzzles do not feel arbitrary; they logically fit into the game environment.

IGNPC: Drakan is characterized somewhat nebulously as an "action/adventure". What is the balance between combat and puzzle solving?

Patmore: Drakan definitely leans towards action. While there are numerous traps and environmental puzzles, a large chunk of the gameplay is combat. I would say it's roughly 70% combat 30% puzzles and traps.

IGNPC: What does the combat feel like, in terms of the number of enemies (large hordes like Doom; a few here and there like Tomb Raider)? Is there more ranged combat or hand-to-hand?

Patmore: The game isn't completely balanced yet, but we are leaning towards massive amounts of enemies. Regardless, the combat is definitely fast paced and a lot more depth than most other third person games. When on dragon-back there are scenes reminiscent of Magic Carpet where you are fighting hordes of creatures. The ground combat, which is primarily hand to hand, varies tremendously depending on what creatures you are fighting. Certain enemies you fight in groups. Others are so powerful you have to fight them one on one or your dead!

Patmore: Unfortunately, not! This is something we talked about doing from the start, but because Drakan is such an ambitious project we had to focus on other gameplay elements.

IGNPC: What about the adventure elements? Are they puzzle-solving or are there any RPG elements?

Patmore: The game definitely has an RPG feel. The fantasy story and the quest based game progression makes Drakan "feel" like an RPG. There are a lot of puzzles in the game, ranging from easy environmental puzzle to tough brain teaser puzzles. We have really tried to balance the puzzle vs. the combat to give the players what they want.

IGNPC: How are the transitions between the aerial combat and ground fighting handled? Is it smooth, or is there a pause as you dismount?

Patmore: The transition from air to ground (Rynn to Arokh) is completely seamless. You simply press the 'descend' key until you hit the ground at which time Arokh automatically lands. Once on the ground you have full control of Arokh. You can run, strafe, fire and even bite. If you want to dismount the dragon you simply press 'descend' again and Rynn leaps off of Arokh's back. You then control Rynn using the exact same controls as the dragon.

IGNPC: In Drakan, the character can go indoors, run along the ground or fly high up in the air. Is this all handled within the same engine? If so, how is it being done?

Patmore: Yes, the entire game is rendered using the same engine. Our tools allow us to essentially edit "layers" of geometry. By manipulating this geometry we can create incredibly organic indoor and outdoor environments. Some of the latter levels of the game are incredibly fantastic. Massive spiraling mountains, lava waterfalls, floating islands are just a few of the environments that the tools allow us to create. The ability to edit layers allows us to create geometry that is impossible in traditional landscape engines.

IGNPC: In aerial combat, do the enemy flyers know maneuvers like an Immelmann or a Barrel Roll? Are WWI flight tactics applicable here?

Patmore: Flight combat in Drakan is more akin to an advanced Magic Carpet than a flight simulator. Your dragon is definitely more powerful than most other creatures. He can perform barrel rolls, dives or rise up nose first. Each of the flying NPCs have unique behaviors. Some dart in and physically attack you, while other circle and strafe, firing projectiles.

IGNPC: A common complaint about third person games is that the camera movement hinders the gameplay--it's too loose, too jerky, or gets in the way. How did you handle this problem?

Patmore: This has been difficult. Like I said earlier we chose a fixed camera. We did this to prevent player disorientation when fighting multiple creatures attacking from multiple directions. This solved about 90% of our camera problems. However, 10% of the time the camera would collide with objects in the game environment. We solved this creating a position relative to Rynn that the camera will smoothly interpolate to if it collides with an object.

IGNPC: You've said the enemies should react with some intelligence, show awareness of each other's presence. Will we see monsters in a group that cooperates, retreat when wounded, or anything like that? How important is AI to create characters that feels real?

Patmore: Making the NPCs feel real and have character is something we are constantly working on. Essentially we have two different types of NPC behavior: air and ground. Air creatures obviously react completely differently to Arokh and Rynn than ground creatures. Additionally, AI behaves differently depending on whether they encounter Rynn or Arokh alone or together. Certain ground creatures will seek cover or flee when they see Arokh, but if Arokh is not around they will charge Rynn and attack.

IGNPC: What about sound? Does Rynn have any voice acting or is she the silent type, like Lara Croft? Is there any music in the game?

Patmore: Rynn is very vocal during the game. Not only does she play a starring role in a majority of the cut-scenes, but she also makes comments depending on what's going on in the game environment.

IGNPC: What about the dragon? Does it have a personality and a voice or is it more of a vehicle?

Patmore: Arokh definitely has a personality. His character is pivotal to the story progression. He is much wiser than Rynn and plays the part well. Arokh and Rynn will converse during gameplay. He is very observant and will even give the player clues to what going to happen in any given situation. He also has autonomous AI. When Rynn dismounts, he will follow her around and even attack enemies that threaten her.